Expansible honing device



NOV. 9, 1965 SUNNEN 3,216,155

EXPANSIBLE HONING DEVICE Filed Dec. 9, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Nov. 9,1965 J. SUNNEN 3,216,155

EXPANSIBLE HONING DEVICE Filed Dec. 9, 1963 2 Sheets-Shet 2 FIG,6

United States Patent 3,216,155 EXPANSIBLE HGNHNG DEVICE Joseph unnen, 409 S. Warson Road, Clayton, Mo. Fiied Eden. 9, 1963, er. No. 329,013 15 Claims. ((11. l347) The present invention relates generally to honing and grinding devices and the like and more specifically to honing and griding devices for honing and griding cylindrical bores and the like.

Many honing and grinding devices have been employed heretofore to hone and grind cylindrical surfaces such as the cylinder walls of an automobile engine and the like and many of the known devices include rotatable honing heads with honing or abrading elements and guide members or shoes mounted thereon. In such structures stones perform the honing or grinding operations while the guides stabilize the structure and provide support for the stones. In all known constructions having stones and guides, however, the stones and guides are mounted in opposed relationship, that is to say, the stones and guides respectively are mounted in opposed pairs on the opposite ends of perpendicular diameters of the rotating structure. This is not true of the present device which is designed and constructed to improve the operating, stability and wear characteristics of honing and like devices and to make such devices relatively less noisy. The subject device also improves the wear characteristics of the surface engaging elements and produces more nearly perfect honed surfaces because of the aforesaid improved operating and wear characteristics. For many of the same reasons the subject device also requires less maintenance and less replacement of parts. Furthermore, the honing diameter of the subject device is determined by three instead of four elements, and none of the surface contacting elements are positioned in diametrically opposed relationship, both of which conditions further contribute to its operating stability. These last named featurcs also enable the Wear elements to wear evenly and to be more evenly and uniformly loaded.

The subject honing device obtains these and other advantages over known devices by providing a novel rotatable honing and abrading structure having two abrasive or stone assemblies engageable with a surface to be honed and two wear or guide assemblies which are also engageable with the same surface. However, in the present structure only three of the said four surface engaging assemblies are rigidly supported and therefore determine the honing diameter of the device, and these same three assemblies enable the subject device to have the improved operating characteristics and improved stability noted above. The fourth assembly, which is preferably a guide assembly is resiliently biased into engagement with the surface being honed but does not enter into the determination of the honing diameter. The fourth assembly is, however, self-adjusting and also contributes to the operational stability of the head. In particular, the spring biased guide assembly improves the stability of the head about its axis of rotation by preventing tilting thereof, and it also floats on the surface being honed and to some extent loads the other assemblies and prevents chatter. The present structure therefore achieves an improved operating and wear condition and prolongs the life of all of the surface engaging members. Furthermore, in the present structure the two abrasive members or stones are positioned in adjacent grooves on the rotating member and the two guide members are also positioned in adjacent grooves thereon, and none of the said four members are positioned diametrically opposite from one another on the structure. This uniqu spacing of the work engaging members further improves the operating char- Patented Nov. 9, 1965 acteristics and stability of the device. All of the assemblies on the subject device are also adjustable radially by means of shims or the like for honing diameter cylinders and to compensate for wear, and the abrasive members are further radially adjustable during a honing operation to maintain continuous contact with the work surface.

It is a principal object of the present invention to provide improved means for more accurately honing and abrading cylindrical surfaces and the like.

Another object is to improve the stability of honing devices and the like.

Another object is to prolong the useful life of honing and abrading elements and of guide members employed in conjunction therewith.

Another object is to provide an improved honing head which can be used on new as well as on existing honing machines.

Another object is to provide a relatively inexpensive honing device which can be quickly and accurately adjusted for different operations and which can be operated by relatively unskilled personnel.

Another object is to reduce the time required to adjust and replace the wear elements of honing and abrading devices.

These and other objects and advantages of the present device will become apparent to those skilled in the art after considering the following specification which covers a preferred embodiment of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a honing device constructed according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the same device as seen on line 33 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 44 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 5-5 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional elevational view taken on line 66 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view similar to FIG. 5 but showing the subject device in operating position in a cylinder to be honed;

FIG. 8 is a perspective View showing a stone assembly and the mounting means therefor; and

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a typical shim for use on the subject device.

Referring to the drawings more particularly by reference numbers, the number 149 refers to a honing instrument or head constructed according to the present invention. The head It) has a body portion 12 which is generally cylindrical in shape. The body 12 also has an axial passage l4 therethrough which receives an elongated rotatable gear member 16, and the gear 16 has a plurality of elongated gear teeth therearound. The gear 16 extends substantially the full length of the body 12 and at one end is connected to drive means 18 which are shown as being a planatary gear arrangement. The drive means 13 are provided for expanding the subject honing device during a honing operation to keep the work engaging elements thereof engaged with the surface being honed. The body 12 is elongated in shape and has four grooves formed at spaced locations therearound.

Referring to FIG. 2 it will be seen that the four body grooves each accommodate either a stone assembly or a guide shoe assembly. The two stone assemblies are identified by numbers 20 and 22 and the two guide assemblies by numbers 24 and 26. The stone assembly 20 includes an abrasive member or stone 28 mounted on a backing member 30 which in turn is attached to or mounted on a support structure 32. The support member 32 is platelike in shape and has a pair of spaced mounting pins 34 and 36 (FIG. 8) attached to th opposite side thereof from the stone 28. The mounting pins 34 and 36 are positioned extending into tubular gear members 38 and 40 respectively and the two gear members are part of an adjustment structure which includes a rack gear assembly 42 (FIG. 8). The rack gear assembly 42 also includes a member 44 which connects the tubular gear members 38 and 4t), and the tubular gear members 38 and 40 have gear teeth 33a and 40a respectively formed on corresponding sides thereof which teeth cooperate with the teeth of the elongated gear 16. When the gear 16 is rotated the stone assemblies 20 and 22 move radially on the head.

The stone assembly 22 is similar in construction to the assembly 20 and therefore does not need to be described in detail. It should be noted, however, that the mounting pins for the assembly 22 and the associated tubular gears are spaced differently than the mounting pins 34 and 36 and their corresponding tubular gear members. This is done so that the tubular rack gear members will engage the drive gear 16 at different positions therealong to better accommodate all of the tubular rack gears in the device. This also prevents interchanging and reversal of the positions of the assemblies which has certain advantages in this particular construction.

The construction of the two guide assemblies 24 and 26 is also similar but the operation of each is different because one is fixedly positioned radially on the head while the other is spring loaded. Both guide assemblies as well as both stone assemblies, however, are adjustable radially by means of shims as will be shown.

The guide assembly 24 is the spring loaded assembly and includes a guide shot 50 preferably formed of a relatively soft metal such as bronze. The shoe 50 is attached to a plate-like mounting member 52 by means of screws or other fastener means and the mounting member 52 also has a pair of spaced mounting rods or pins 54 which are positioned in spaced holes formed in the body 12. The guide assembly 24 is also mounted in a groove 56 formed in the body 12, and the mounting member 52 has a surface thereon that is parallel to one of the surfaces of the groove 56. One or more shims 58 of predetermined thickness can also be positioned between the mounting members 52 and the adjacent groove surface to initially radially position the assembly 24 on the body 12. Each of the shims 58 is a flat member with two spaced holes 60 therethrough which cooperate to receive the mounting pins 54. A typical shim is shown in FIG. 9. The shims are installed on the assembly 24 before the assembly is mounted on the body 12 and the number and thickness of the shims can be changed simply and quickly by pulling the assembly out of the body.

The construction of the guide shoe assembly 26 is similar to the assembly 24 as described above but the two assemblies 24 and 26 differ in the way they operate. For example, it can be seen in FIG. 4 that the shims 58 for the assembly 26 are positioned between guide shoe mounting member 61 and the associated groove 63 of the body 12, while the shims associated with the assembly 24 are maintained in spaced relation to the body groove 56 by means of a spring assembly as will be described.

The spring assembly includes an elongated rod member 62 which has .a head end 64 that extends outwardly from one end of a bore 66 in which the spring assembly is positioned. The head end 64 of the spring assembly engages the assembly 24 or the innermost shim 58 associated with the assembly 24 and maintains the assembly spaced outwardly on the head. The rod member 62 also extends through a smaller diameter bore 68 located at an intermediate location in the bore 66, and a spring 70 is positioned on the member 62 between a shoulder 72 formed at the junction of the bores 66 and 68 and the head end 64 of the member 62. The spring 70 is maintained under compression on the member 62 by means of a threaded member 74 which extends through a Washer 76 and cooperates with a threaded bore in the end of the member 62. The washer 76 is large enough to engage another shoulder 78 as shown in FIG. 4. Under normal operating conditions the head 64 should extend sufficiently to provide a resilient backing for the assembly 24 at all times regardless of the diameter of the surface being honed. Adjustment of the spring pressure is usually done at the factory during assembly.

It can now be seen that the guide assembly is 26 rigidly supported on the body 12 but is radially adjustable thereon by adding or taking away shims, and that the guide assembly 24 is movable radially on the head but is biased outwardly by means of the spring biased head 64. The assembly 24 is also adjustable by shims. The stone assemblies 29 and 22, like the guide assembly 26, are also rigidly supported in all operating positions thereof but unlike the assembly 26 they can be adjusted radially by means of the gear 16, and the associated gear assemblies such as the gear assembly 42. In all positions of the stone assemblies, the stone assemblies 20 and 22 and the rigidly supported guide assembly 26 define three points or lines of contact which can engage a surface being honed, and these three lines of contact determine the honing diameter of the device. These three lines of contact are clearly shown in FIG. 7 and are identified by the leters A, B, and C. The resilient biased shoe assembly 24, on the other hand, engages the surface at point D and is self-adjusting to any honing diameter within the range of the device by means of the spring 70 assuming that it is also first properly shimmed. The assembly 24 does not therefore enter into the determination of the honing diameter. This is important because three fixed points or lines of contact provide the most stable and desirable operation condition for a honing head of the type described. At the same time, however, the biased guide assembly 24 exerts force on the cylindrical surface being honed in a direction to predeterminately load the other three assemblie in addition to stabilizing the honing axis in a vertical direction and eliminating tilting, looseness and chatter.

During a honing operation as the cylindrical surface is enlarged it is necessary to move one or more of the stone or shoe assemblies radially outwardly. The outward movement is shown optionally applied to the stone assemblies in the drawings and is obtained by means of the drive gear 16 and the associated tubular rack gear members 38 and 40 associated with the movable assemblies 42. In the particular construction shown, the drive gear 16 is rotated by the planetary gear assembly 18 located at the top of the head, and the planetary assembly in turn is operated by mechanisms in the honing machine on which the subject head is employed. Various mechanisms for driving the planetary gear assembly are known in the art and form no part of the present invention.

Of particular importance to the present invention is the positional relationship and spacing of the assemblies 20, 22, 24 and 26 on the head 10. For example, the two stone assemblies are preferably positioned in adjacent grooves on the head as are the two guide assemblies, and no two assemblies are positioned diametrically opposite from each other. Furthermore, the assemblies 20 and 22 are preferably circumferentially spaced relatively farther apart on the head than are the two guide assemblies. The particular angular relationship between the various assemblies shown in the drawing provides a very stable operating condition, and also provides an arrangement in which the stone elements and shoe elements wear relatively uniformly thereby prolonging the shoe and stone life and making the subject heads relatively economical to operate. The three point contact idea and the positional relationship of the four assemblies also enables the present device to hone more nearly perfect round surfaces.

Having the shoe and the stone assemblies mounted on the head by means of locating pins is also an important advantage because it enables the assemblies to be easily and quickly removed and replaced and it also makes adjusting and shimming of the assemblies a simple operation. Furthermore, by having the locating pins for the several stone and shoe assemblies spaced differently, the assemblies cannot be switched or interchanged which may be an advantage in some situations. This also makes it impossible to mount the assemblies in a backward or upside down condition. It should also be noted that the mounting pins for all the assemblies 20, 22, 24 and 26 are spaced circumferentially ahead of the associated stones and shoes relative to the direction of head rotation. This is done to prevent the assemblies from binding or locking up on a cylindrical surface being honed, and this also enables the assemblies to better ride over uneven and dirty portions of a surface being honed.

Thus there has been shown and described a novel honing or abrading head which fulfills all of the objects and advantages sought therefor. Many changes, variations, modifications and other forms of the subject device will, however, become apparent to those skilled in the art after considering this specification and the accompanying drawings. All such changes, variations, modifications and other uses of the subject device which do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention are deemed to be covered by the invention which is limited only by the claims which follow.

What is claimed is:

1. A device for honing cylindrical bores and the like comprising a honing head of generally cylindrical configuration with an axial bore therethrough, a gear extending through said axial bore, means for driving said gear, said honing head having a plurality of circumferentially spaced cutouts formed around the periphery thereof, at least two adjacent ones of said cutouts being spaced circumferentially on the head at an obtuse angle relative to each other, a pair of honing assemblies positioned in said two adjacent cutouts, a pair of guide assemblies positioned in two other spaced cutouts, means associated with two of said assemblies operatively engaging said drive gear for radial movement on said head in response to movement of the drive gear, and means resiliently supporting one of said two other assemblies on said head.

2. A honing device for honing cylindrical surfaces and the like comprising a substantially cylindrical body having four spaced surface grooves formed therein, at least two adjacent ones of said grooves being circumferentially spaced from each other on the body by an obtuse angle, an axial bore extending through the body, a drive gear rotatably positioned in said axial bore, four spaced surface engaging assemblies mounted respectively in said four body grooves, two of said four assemblies being honing assemblies positioned respectively in said two adjacent obtusely related body grooves and the other two of said assemblies being surface engaging guide assemblies positioned respectively in the other body grooves, means supporting three of said four assemblies on said body whereby said three assemblies determine the honing diameter of the device, resilient means supporting the fourth assembly on the body whereby said fourth assembly is movable into engagement with the surface having a diameter determined by said three assemblies, the support means for at least two of said three assemblies including means operatively engageable with said drive gear for changing the honing diameter determined by said three assemblies.

3. The honing device defined in claim 2 wherein the spacing between the pair of honing assemblies is greater than the spacing between either of said stone assemblies and the nearest guide assembly.

4. The honing device defined in claim 2 wherein the spacing between the honing assemblies is greater than the spacing between the guide assemblies.

5. A device for honing cylindrical surfaces and the like comprising a body portion of generally cylindrical shape, four circumferentially spaced grooves formed in the surface of the body portion, two adjacent ones of said grooves being circumferentially spaced by an obtuse angle relative to each other on the body, a hone assembly positioned in each of said obtusely related grooves, means for moving said hone assemblies radially relatively to the body portion to change the operating positions thereof and the honing diameter of the device, said moving means providing relatively rigid support for said assemblies in all operating positions thereof, a guide assembly positioned in each of the other body grooves, relatively rigid means supporting one of said guide assemblies on the body portion whereby said hone assemblies and said one guide assembly define three surfaces engaging contacts that determine the operating diameter of the device, and means yieldably supporting the other guide assembly on the body portion whereby said yieldably supported assembly adjusts its radial position on the body portion to engage a surface being honed.

6. The honing device defined in claim 5 wherein each of said hone and guide assemblies includes a pair of spaced mounting pins, and said body portion includes a bore for receiving each of said mounting pins.

7. The honing device defined in claim 6 wherein said hone and guide assemblies are radially adjustable on said body portion by means including shims positioned on the associated mounting pins between the assemblies and the body portion.

8. The honing device defined in claim 6 wherein at least one of said hone assemblies includes a tubular gear portion positioned in the associated body bores between the bores and the assembly mounting pins, said hone assembly moving means including a drive gear rotatably positioned in the body portion in cooperating engagement with said tubular gear portions.

9. A honing device for honing cylindrical bores and the like comprising a rotatable body member having an axial bore therethrough and four circumferentially spaced mounting locations around said body, a stone assembly mounted respectively at two adjacent ones of said mounting locations, and guide assemblies mounted respectively at the other two mounting locations, cooperating means on said body and on at least one of said stone assemblies for radially repositioning said stone assembly to change the honing diameter of the device, said last named means including mounting pins and associated gear members on said one stone assembly, and body bores at the associated mounting location for said one assembly for receivrng said pins and said gear members, means for supporting one of said guide assemblies in fixed position on the body, the positions of said one guide assembly and said stone assemblies determining the honing diameter of the device, and means resiliently biasing the other guide assembly radially outward on said body for engagement with a bore being honed.

10. The honing device defined in claim 9 wherein said resiliently biased guide assembly includes a plunger positioned in a body bore, and means biasing the plunger outwardly on the body into engagement with said associated guide assembly.

11. A honing head for a honing machine comprising a rotatable member having a generally cylindrical configuration, a pair of spaced honing assemblies and a pair of spaced guide assemblies mounted in spaced relationship about the cylindrical member, means supporting three of said assemblies in predetermined operating positions on said rotatable member whereby said three assemblies determine the honing diameter of said heads, means for moving at least one of said three assemblies radially on said rotatable member to change the honing diameter of the head, means resiliently biasing the fourth assembly outwardly on said rotatable member whereby said fourth assembly is self-adjusting to resiliently engage any surface engageable by the aforesaid three assemblies.

12. The 'head for a honing machine defined in claim 11 wherein each of said assemblies includes a pair of spaced mounting pins, and said rotatable member has pairs of spaced bores located therein to receive the mounting pin on said assemblies.

13. The head for a honing machine defined in claim 11 wherein said pair of spaced honing assemblies are circumferentially obtusely angularly related on the rotatable member.

14. A honing device comprising a rotatable body having an axial bore therethrough, means for rotatating the body about its axis, gear means extending through the body bore, three circumferentially spaced work engaging assemblies mounted on the body, means supporting said three assemblies in preselected radial positions on the body relative to the body axis whereby said three assemblies establish the honing diameter of the device,

means for changing the radial position of at least one of said three assemblies to change the honing diameter, a

fourth work engaging assembly mounted on said body at a location between two of said three assemblies, and means yieldingly biasing said fourth assembly radially outward on the body into engagement with a surface engaged by the said three assemblies.

15. The honing device defined in claim 14 wherein two of said assemblies have abrasive surface engaging portions, said two assemblies being spaced circumferentially on the body at an obtuse angle relative to each other.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,693,778 12/28 Engman 51-331 1,739,956 12/29 Emerson 5 1-331 1,902,194 3/33 Sunnen 51347 2,439,317 4/48 Peterson 51346 2,815,615 12/57 Sunnen 51338 1'. SPENCER OVERHOLSER, Primary Examiner. 

11. A HONING HEAD FOR A HONING MACHINE COMPRISING A ROATABLE MEMBER HAVING A GENERALLY CYLINDRICAL CONFIGURATION, A PAIR OF SPACED HONING ASSEMBLIES AND A PAIR OF SPACED GUIDE ASSEMBLIES MOUNTED IN SPACED RELATIONSHIP ABOUT THE CYLINDRICAL MEMBER, MEANS SUPPORTING THREE OF SAID ASSEMBLIES IN PREDETERMINED OPERATING POSITIONS ON SAID ROTATABLE MEMBER WHEREBY SAID THREE ASSEMBLIES DETERMINE THE HONING DIAMETER OF SAID HEADS, MEANS FOR MOVING AT LEAST ONE OF SAID THREE ASSEMBLIES RADIALLY ON SAID ROTATABLE MEMBER TO CHANGE THE HONING DIAMETER OF THE HEAD, MEANS RESILIENTLY BIASING THE FOURTH ASSEMBLY OUTWARDLY ON SAID ROTATABLE MEMBER WHEREBY SAID FOURTH ASSEMBLY IS SELF-ADJUSTING TO RESILIENTLY ENGAGE ANY SURFACE ENGAGEABLE BY THE AFORESAID THREE ASSEMBLIES. 